O deputado estadual, Carlos Mosconi (PSDB), propôs em encontro na Assembleia Legislativa, que Minas Gerais passe a ditar ações na política de café brasileira. As dificuldades do setor foram debatidas, na segunda-feira (23), no seminário: “Café: Importância na Saúde e na Economia Mineira”, que contou com a participação do vice-governador, Antônio Anastasia, e do presidente da Almg, Alberto Pinto Coelho.

Mosconi justificou a proposta lembrando que Minas é responsável por 70% de todo o café produzido no país, por isso, é de fundamental importância para as economias do Estado e do Brasil. Participaram também do encontro os secretários de estado da Agricultura, Gilman Rodrigues, de Ciência e Tecnologia, Alberto Portugal, e o subsecretário de Vigilância e Saúde, Luiz Felipe Caran.

Anastasia afirmou que tudo será feito pelo Estado para melhorar a situação do produtor. O vice-governador informou ainda que o governador, Aécio Neves, tem encontro agendado com o ministro da Fazenda, Guido Mantega, e cobrará uma política para o café, já que as vendas não cobrem os custos da maioria dos produtores.

Pinto Coelho afirmou que os deputados buscarão uma conjugação de esforços para encontrar caminhos para fortalecer a cafeicultura em Minas e no país. Gilman avaliou que a crise no setor é estrutural, porque o salário mínimo e os fertilizantes subiram mais de 500% em dez anos e o preço do café apenas 24%. “O consumo nacional subiu nos últimos cinco anos de 39,3 para 46,0 milhões de toneladas anuais”, completou.

O deputado federal Carlos Melles (DEM), presente ao debate, enfatizou o descaso do Governo Federal para com a cafeicultura e disse que Brasília tem dinheiro para tudo, menos para ajudar os produtores endividados. O presidente do Conselho Nacional do Café (CNC), Gilson Ximenes Abreu, pediu trégua ao governo do Estado para os cafeicultores, argumentando que a dívida não foi feita por má administração, mas em razão de políticas desastradas aplicadas em décadas.

A reunião foi convocada pelas comissões de Saúde e de Política Agropecuária e Agroindustrial da Assembleia Legislativa, por solicitação dos deputados Mosconi e Antônio Carlos Arantes (PSC). O representante do CNC e demais lideranças do setor concordam com Mosconi e também querem que Minas tome a iniciativa de propor solução para os problemas da cafeicultura.

I have just arrived home from the most amazing weekend workshop with Dr. Leonid Sharashkin.  I think I now know what the phrase “I’m buzzing” actually means!  What an inspirational (and funny) Man.

Dr. Leo is the editor of the English version of the Ringing Cedars of Russia book series.  If you haven’t read them yet, I would highly recommend them.

The workshop covered everything from permiculture to unassisted home birthing to our universal ancestral roots.   He included a great presentation of many images featuring his family – beautiful wife and 3 kids, his parents, the log cabin built with his own bare hands, the eco-village where he lives when he is in Russia, other eco-villages around the world.

I loved how he combined the vision of a space of love/kin’s domain with the practicalities of how it all could work (or not – he had some very funny stories about what not to do).  I also very much liked how Dr. Leo emphasised individual responsibility – that it is up to each individual to decide what his or her space of love is/could be.  In other words; not to take what Anastasia speaks about as a religion – TAKE BACK YOUR POWER AND MAKE YOUR OWN MIND UP.

Some main points:

• Our pristine origins and how/why they were wiped out
• Linguistics/origins of words in English, Russian and other languages and how some once positive words and images have been turned upside-down
• Looking to nature and within ourselves for all answers
• Steps to creating your space of love (step 0 – visualisation)
• There is a difference between running from the city and being drawn to nature
• In big cities you interact with people’s functions not human beings
• Benefits of “pests” and weeds
• Why the bees are dying out
• The meaning of the word “will”
• Some ideas on how an ecovillage can be successful
• Religion/dogmas compared to Operating Systems (v. funny)

Dr. Leo suggested these 2 eco-villiage sites to check out:

http://www.grishino.ecology.net.ru/en/index.htm

http://eco-kovcheg.ru/index_en.html

Another cool site:

http://www.thatroundhouse.info/

Here you can see an interview with Dr. Leo (I haven’t watched this yet)

http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/lsharashkin.htm

Here you can read his doctoral dissertation on Family Gardens: Russia’s Primary Agriculture

Enjoy!

For this week’s individual task I chose to look more closely at my favourite genre – animation, and traditional animation in particular. Although a commonly shared opinion is that animated movies are aimed specifically and exclusively at children, I strongly disagree. An adult will appreciate them in a different way than a child, noticing the professionalism around the making of the movie, the references and the humour, which touch upon real everyday life. Here I am going to compare Disney’s “Beauty and the beast”(1991) and 20th Century Fox’s “Anastasia”(1997)

• What elements of each of the objects seem to be the same?

The colours both of the movies are bright and strong. The images are with realistic proportions and features. Each of them is very rich on sounds and music, including songs, interlaced with the plot. The narrative is simple enough but not shallow. The characters are not complex, but rather strictly divided into good or bad.

• What elements mark each object out as being different from the rest that you have chosen?

 Both movies are fairly similar, but “Beauty and the Beast” animation is characterized with more oval shapes than “Anastasia”, where human faces for example are more “edgy”. Disney’s movie uses brighter colours. “Anastasia”, on the other hand, builds a bit more complex and realistic characters.

• How might ‘the audience’ understand the object?

 As I mentioned earlier, children and adult audiences will understand the movies in different ways. Children are fascinated by the colours, the sounds, the songs, the plot where the good always triumphs over evil, the instructive lessons to be good and loyal, to never trust strangers etc. Adults will notice the beautiful and realistic drawings, the simple but interesting narrative, the everyday life references and jokes, interlaced in the film, the actual music itself.

• What kinds of pleasure might ‘the audience’ get from each object?

Children will enjoy the fairytale world where magic exists, people sing and dance in the streets and good always defeats bad. Adults will have a break from everyday struggles and enjoy the short illusion that that wonderful world exists. After the movie all will me left relaxed and possibly happier than they were before they sat down to watch it.

Interviews

Kris, 18, dislikes animated movies

1. Why do you dislike animated movies?

Most of them are extremely unrealistic and give wrong perception of the world to anyone, who is susceptible enough, like children for example. Another thing is that characters are always either very good or very bad, which is also very unrealistic.

2. Is there anything you like about animation and if yes, what and why do you like it?

 I have to admit I enjoy the actual drawings and the sense of humour in certain animations but rarely in full-length animated films. If I have to choose, the Warner Bros cartoons are my favourite, because they are a bit absurd, just enough to give the comical impression, but in no way grotesque.

Lilly, 20, loves animated movies

1. Why do you love animated movies?

For many reasons! First and foremost are the music and the songs, then the beautiful drawings and last but not least – the wonderful feeling they leave me with after each time I watch them. I have to say that the optimism in the end is contagious and I definitely need it after a whole day of work and studying.

2. Is there anything about animated movies that you dislike? If yes, what and why?

Well, sometimes I think the characters are a bit over the top. Just too evil and genius or too good and gullible.

Designer: Anastasia

<3 the bow tie

Designer: Fuji Tjandra

Designer: Rudi Liem

Designer: Oka Diputra

Designer: Poppy Dharsono

Poppy on the catwalk.

Designer: Rebecca Ing

Designer: Stephanus Hammy

Designer: Hengki K.

I was faced with an eyebrow conundrum this week: my brows were unruly, and I had nowhere to get them cleaned up. My trusted aesthetician is on maternity leave, and I have no time this week to see the pro I found to shape my brows in her absence. All I needed was a clean-up, but I’m hesitant to go to just anybody because I’m growing out my brows, and I’ve finally gotten them to a point where they are a bit thicker.

I decided to book an appointment at the Anastasia Brow Studio at Nordstrom for a waxing. Anastasia Soare, Hollywood brow guru, has brought her luxe salon in a mini version to Nordstrom stores across the country. All technicians are trained by Anastasia herself, or by one of her top-level associates, and follow the Anastasia method of brow shaping.

It was difficult getting someone on the phone, but I left a voicemail, and my call was promptly returned. I was able to book an appointment for the same day.

When I arrived at the one-room studio, located near the cosmetics department, my tech greeted me. She asked me a few quick questions, like what I usually do to maintain my brow shape, what I was looking for with my brows, and then seated in me in one of 2 treatment chairs and tilted me back so that my face was directly under an arched lamp. Getting waxed where Nordstrom shoppers could peer in was a bit uncomfortable at first, but I got over that quickly. Although I was facing the opposite direction, I could see that behind me was a small station brimming with Anastasia products. And then we got down to business.

All Anastasia products were used in the waxing session. First, the tech wiped my brow area clean. Then she used an Anastasia stencil ($20 per set) to draw on what would ultimately be my brow shape in a very dark (almost black) color and let me examine the results in a hand mirror. (This would be the time to speak up if you don’t like what you see.) She proceeded to trim my brows, then applied wax in 4 sections above and below my brows (each section began at the inner edge of my brow and extended to the apex of the arch). This is where it got a bit uncomfortable. When she pulled the wax off my left brow, it hurt–and I am no stranger to waxing. I usually don’t bat an eye during an eyebrow wax, but this time, it stung.

After waxing, the tech applied a cooling cream to my skin, which felt amazing. It immediately helped to ease the pain on my left brow. After it sat for a few minutes, she wiped my brows clean and applied a soothing Anastasia After-Tweeze Cream ($20) to soothe skin and combat irritation. Finally, she defined my brows with Anastasia Brow Powder Duo ($22), and applied clear brow gel to set them in place.

When she handed me the mirror, I was surprised by what I saw: my arch, which has been too high and severe-looking for awhile now, somehow looked more natural. The shape itself was very nice, and I was really pleased with the results. I can’t exactly pinpoint what the tech did, but I noticed less of a need to fill in my brows so much; they naturally look more uniform.

Bottom line: My brows are beautifully arched and trimmed, and more uniform in size and thickness. Having my brows defined post-wax was a nice touch to the service. The wax was a bit pricey ($30), but you’re paying for the Anastasia name (and I felt totally confident in my technician’s capability). I did have soreness and redness on my left brow for about 2 days, and experienced a mini breakout, but nothing drastic. One thing I noticed was that I had to immediately wash my face when I got home; the wax smell really bothered me, and it stuck with me long after the session ended. I’m used to Aveda wax, which smells so good…this did not.

Will I go back? Yes.

You can find Anastasia products in brow studios at participating Nordstroms, and also at Sephora.

Anastasia était la quatrième fille de Nicolas II, le dernier tsar de Russie, qui a régné jusqu’en 1917. Celui-ci était marié à l’impératrice Alexandra, de laquelle il eut quatre filles entre 1895 et 1901, puis finalement, e 1904, l’héritier tant attendu, le tasrévitch Alexis. En 1917, suite à la révolution bolchevique, le tsar abdique, et lui et sa famille sont alors retenus prisonniers durant cinq mois. Dans la nuit du 16 au 17 juillet 1918, Lénine et une partie du Bureau Politique ordonnent l’exécution de la totalité de la famille impériale et de leurs serviteurs.

Cependant, en 1920, une certaine Anna Andreson, en Allemagne, prétend être Anastasia : elle dira avoir été sauvée par un des membres du peloton d’exécution, qui l’a par la suite épousée. Les membres de la famille impériale refusent de la reconnaître. Elle se met alors à livrer des détails que seule la fille de Nicolas II aurait pu connaître, sur la vie à la Cour de Russie, sa famille, les conditions de détention, mais aussi et surtout elle révèle les négociations d’accords secrets en 1916 entre Nicolas II et un envoyé de Guillaume II dont elle prétend avoir été témoin. La famille impériale refusera toujours de voir en elle Anastasia, d’autant qu’Anna Andreson, malgré les détails qu’elle livre, ne ressemble pas physiquement à Anastasia, et surtout ne parle pas russe !

En 1990, les corps de la famille sont retrouvés et exhumés, et on procède alors à une analyse ADN. Le corps d’Anastasia est retrouvé avec ceux de sa famille, et sa mort est clairement datée de 1918. Le mystère est donc résolu : Anastasia n’a pas survécu. Il n’existe à ce jour pas d’explication pour justifier la connaissance approfondie qu’Anna Andreson avait de la famille impériale et de la vie à la Cour.

Oh how people change. I moved away from Anastasia for a year and she did a 180 on me. Not that it is a bad thing; it’s just entertaining to reminisce about the old days.

I remember the day that she told me that gin martinis were vile and she had no idea how I could drink two of them. Text from last weekend: “I had two martinis and I could drive a car NASCAR style right now.” My, how people change. And only in a year.

I met this girl (Anastasia) who believed that beer was life’s nectar and a pair of clean jeans was acceptable for all occasions, Brooklyn was Timbuktu and going to Manhattan on a Sunday was like giving birth. Soooo painful. Video games were the only acceptable Saturday activity, exploring the wonderfulness of NYC on a weekend was out of the question.

Asking Anastasia to come into the city on a weekend was like asking for her first born. And trust me, she won’t even let me be in her wedding party, so I guarantee she won’t let me meet her first born. Even worse than asking her to come into Manhattan on a weekend was asking her to come visit me in Brooklyn. Queens to Brooklyn was like Germany to Bangladesh. Who would travel that far to visit someplace that wasn’t as cool as Germany and why? Brooklyn to Anastasia was like another world. Brooklyn didn’t exist. Queens was better than Brooklyn, hands down.

One time I went “all the way” from Brooklyn, middle of nowhere to Anastasia, to the Upper East Side-five minutes from her apartment. I asked her to meet me for happy hour. Her response? “Yeah there is no way in hell you are getting me to go to Manhattan on a Saturday.” Wow.

When we did go out, Friday’s only, Anastasia’s drink of choice? Beer. Beer. Beer. Try suggesting a tequila shot and you might get punched. I, of course, was going through my “dark” period, where tequila and gin martinis were necessary for survival, so we had a hard time seeing eye to eye on drinks.

I am not complaining, I loved down to earth Anastasia: the girl who didn’t know what a dress was (even in the brutal heat of a New York summer), thought that a skirt was the Universe’s punishment for women, museums were a waste of a Saturday and drinking wine and hard liquor was for pansies who couldn’t handle beer. I sure do enjoy drinking beer, sitting on the couch in jeans and a hoodie, but I also enjoy a fancy night out sipping wine. So imagine my surprise when I recently started hearing stories about gin martinis, tequila, dresses and Brooklyn. WHAT? Who is this woman?

Anastasia now: wine and gin has replaced beer, an occasional tequila shot isn’t out of the question and Brooklyn not only exists but is even inhabitable occasionally!

A status update about a month ago mentioned Anastasia buying a dress and I almost fell out of my chair. A dress?! One of those things that show legs and boobs? Anastasia? She has legs? Just plain crazy. Anastasia has sported five dresses this year, I’m in shock. Wonderment, if you will. I cannot wait to go sip martinis at a fancy bar with my “new” friend!

Anastasia has ventured to Brooklyn a few times, goes to museums, hangs out in the city no matter what day it is, doesn’t say: “Alexis, you know what day it is,” when I call her on a Saturday. To be blunt: she’s a martini whore now. Love it! I’m sure I have done just as much changing as Anastasia, seeing how we met each other during “dark” phases in our lives, but now that the sky has cleared, we are getting to know new sides of one another. She met me when I was face down in tequila 24/7 and I met her when Brooklyn, to her, was an abomination.

Times, they be a-changin’.

-Alexis Patron

New York is three hundred and five square miles of land. It’s the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance, Hip Hop, Punk, Expressionism and millions of unique individuals. Over eight million call it home, thirty six thousand of which are homeless (almost half children). One hundred and seventy languages are spoken in the city and over thirty percent of its residents were born elsewhere and moved here, ideally seeking more from life. Over five thousand skyscraper makeup the city’s skyline-the most in the country and only second to Hong Kong in the world. Twenty eight thousand acres make up the city’s parks. Fourteen miles of public beaches provide an escape during those scorching summer days.

In a city like this – a city so grand- with something for everyone, how can one find animosity within its limits? It’s pretty easy. All that concrete, every mile of land, each person who takes a moment to marvel at the pretty buildings without stepping out of the way of bustling New Yorkers, hastily going from one place to the next, can easily crash into you when you’re in a bad place. It’s suffocating, really.

At the height of the summer, New York enjoyed a nine point six unemployment rate. That’s close to eight hundred thousand people struggling in one of the most expensive cities in the world. They face choices: pay rent or eat. Is scraping together twenty dollars for a beer with friends, a vain effort to lull the problems for a few short hours, a realistic option?

If you sit and think about it, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers. With my current unemployment, I’m getting lost in the numbers. My lungs hurt from the fifteen cigarettes I smoked tonight. The two beers (totaling twelve dollars) didn’t quite work as well as I had hoped. How many nights in a row can I drink myself into a stupor in a juvenile effort to ignore the thousands of thoughts and questions running through my head twenty four hours a day? Eight hours of sleep rarely provides an escape anymore.

I’m feeling beat up by the city lately. My friend calls New York the “abusive boyfriend we’ll never leave.” Because when it’s good, it’s better than any drug’s high. But when it’s bad, it will break you down if you let it. I’m not letting my temporary claustrophobia break me down, but it’s certainly making me rethink decisions I’ve made.

There’s something to be said for self discovery. It’s the most arduously necessary task we all experience eventually. I spent the majority of my adult life denying myself the right to discovery. If the process was always too complicated or if something stewed in me that I consciously sought to ignore, I’m uncertain. But I know my ignorance has caused more problems than good. Bliss only lasts so long. So I question: would I change for the better if it meant uprooting that which defined me thus far and provided years of protection from vulnerability? I hope so, but hope is rarely enough.

I won’t classify myself as self destructive, but I am a reckless little creature. Reckless in the city can be disastrous. I live in the moment, only ever looking forward to the good while disregarding the consequences of my actions. What a pity I only discovered this now.

I have been presented with an unequivocal opportunity for self discovery; to improve; to figure it all out. I don’t intend on wasting it. But to change I need to understand my old, compartmentalizing, numbing habits: recognize a problem, alienate feelings, store all emotion in the unmarked box in the back of your brain, and absolutely-without a doubt- do your best not to shake the box and stir up feelings that ultimately lead to questions. Ignore, ignore, ignore the questions and replace them with whatever clutch can temporarily carry the weight. Alcohol? Certainly. Pour another, please. Cigarettes? If that weak-kneed feeling doesn’t provide temporary absolution, then I’m not sure what will. Lust for comfort? Only if it feels good and it always will.

These distractions I perfected are paralytic. They will suffocate me eventually.

Let me use a tired metaphor. Imagine yourself trapped in a soundproof glass room. Friends, family, whomever you’re trying to communicate with surround the room. You hear their voices and process the information given. You speak but they can’t hear you. You scream but still nothing. A question replaces the screams: how much longer will they put up with this? Now, that glass room occasionally is my head; the screams my thoughts. This city doesn’t sleep for a reason: it’s loud. When your only goal is to communicate thoughts well with those you care about, the cacophony of trucks, strangers and screeching train breaks are deafening.

I don’t want to think about this mess I am in anymore. It’s making me feel trapped in the city that I’m in love with. But ignoring is no longer an option. So I sit and stare. I think and think and think, until my head hurts and my stomach is knotted. A thought forms, but before it hits my lips the words disintegrate into jumbled letters rather than a coherent sentence. I have a thousand things to say but I can’t. Not because I don’t want to but if I’m going to say them then they had better be right. And I just haven’t figured out the right way yet.

The worst part, the part that frustrates me the most, is that with any given situation I face I feel like I’m being far more dramatic than necessary. It’s like a roller coaster: a slow crawl to the top of the track where I feel I’m exploding a minor situation into a melodramatic state. I accelerate down and remind myself at the bottom that in all reality I’m a fairly laid back person. But this only adds to the confusion and makes differentiating between reality and what I’ve distorted quite difficult.

This is a brief and cynical view of where I’m at with New York right now. But it’s only because I’m in a rut. I don’t want to get lost in the numbers anymore and I won’t forever. Because there really is no place like New York. Even if I leave the city, if only for a weekend, I’m always anxious to come home. To embrace the numbers, the museums, each new friend I will make, each street I roam and breathe in, all the while knowing I’m a unique cog in the wheel that is New York. And the city just wouldn’t be the same without me.

-Anastasia Beam

Anorexic brows like mine–they’re a curse.  Without any help, they look pathetic and ghostlike; but try to fill them in, and suddenly I’m approaching Joan Crawford territory.  For years, I was afraid of brow enhancers (pencils, gels, powders, and the like)…and then I was introduced to the amazing line created by celebrity brow-guru Anastasia…and voila!  My wispy brows were forever cured.

My go-to product is the Anastasia All About Brows kit, a six-item collection of everything you could possibly need to groom, tame, enhance and beautify your brows.  It features tweezers, a two-shade shadow duo, brow stencils (which I will readily admit I’ve never actually used, but still find very cool), a double-sided brush, brow gel, and a highlighter pencil.  It’s goofproof.  When I traveled to England recently for a–no joke–48 hour trip, it was one of the only beauty products I carried with me–I love it so.

That’s the beauty of all of Anastasia’s products, whether they’re brow accoutrements or simple quads of indispensible, perfectly complementary eyeshadow shades: they’re so flattering, that you’ll honestly wonder how you ever did without them.

Von Tori kannte ich vorher eigentlich nur Cornflake Girl, und deswegen habe ich diese CD auch bestellt. Und sofort habe ich erkannt, dass ich mehr von dieser begnadeten Frau brauche …

Der Großteil der CD ist hervorragend gemixt vom guten alten Kevin Killen, der es – wie bei Sophie B Hawkins Album “timbre” – auch hier wieder verstanden hat, sehr komplexe Arrangements richtig klingen zu lassen. Man merkt eben den Unterschied.

Die CD beginnt schon großartig: Pretty Good Year ist eine etwas melancholisch-verträumte Ballade mit einem putzigen Klavier und einem Weck-Auf-Fill-In. Schon bei diesem ersten Stück überzeugt Amos mit ihrem unbeschreibbaren Gesang – sogar das Atmen verwandelt sie in Musik.

Das nächste Highlight – Past the Mission – klingt wie eine gelungene Mischung aus Carole King und Nick Caves Where the wild roses grow. Erstaunlich, aber wahr.

The Wrong Band schließlich, irgendwo in der Mitte, ist eine kleine fast amüsante Auflockerung zwischen den doch recht eigentümlich-melancholischen Stücken. Und dann kommt auch schon Cornflake Girl. Cornflake Girl ist zwar reiner Pop, besticht aber durch Amos geniales Klavier und das tolle Arrangement.

Das wahre Meisterstück dieser CD ist aber meiner unbescheidenen Meinung nach Space Dog, wo sie alle Register ihres Könnens zieht. Was so cool und fast schon pop-punkig beginnt, verwandelt sich in ein außergewöhnlich intensiv gesungenes Drama mit einem annähernd zweiminütigen, gänsehauterzeugenden Schlussarrangement, wo wir Tori gleich zweistimmig singen hören dürfen.

Nur mit dem letzten Stück, Yes, Anastasia, einer neun Minuten langen Halbimprovisation über Gedanken an die Zarentochter (?) kann ich wenig anfangen.

Alles in Allem macht Under The Pink absolut Lust auf mehr. Wer gutes Songwriting braucht und gerne jemanden wirklich GUT und INTENSIV singen hört, auch wenn die Songs einen konsequent eigenen Stil haben (was natürlich nichts schlechtes ist), ist bei Tori Amos gut aufgehoben.

As fi putut scrie , bineinteles “qui a le délire”.

Un prolog. Prost. Prost si verde. Trist si dulce. Sonor si albastrui. Aspru si fierbinte. Pe marginea ferestrei. Miroase de afara aerul perforat, a zapada, a rece, a un viitor decembrie ce va denumi a nu stiu cata iarna.

Lumini. Parca si ele reci, inghetate, patate toate de praf alb. Fulgii astia imi aduc mereu aminte de Anastasia, de un glob de cristal in care ninge cand cineva se amuza de niste haos.

Te cutremuri deodata. Te apropii de fereastra desi ai inghetat. Vrei sa respiri aerul gol. Parca a inghetat cerul. Cu stelele lui cu tot. Nimic nu straluceste sub panglicile reci ce le leaga. Alb, insolent. Atent totusi. Mut…mort.

Cum nu-ti plac clownii , laptele sau rugaciunile, nu plac oamenii de zapada. Nici morcovi , nici jobenuri vechi si maturi. Treci repede pe strada si te opresti sa bei un ceai. Te-a invatat cineva cum caeiurile sau cafeua te lasa cu aceleasi probleme. Ramai cu o cana goala. Si de data asta cu un zambet.

Sorbi sonor licoarea visinie. Te invarti. Din nou, din nou si din nou. Esti pe marginea ferestrei . Ingheti. Te dezechilibrezi. Nu poti sa te aduni si ti-e atat de somn. Te intinzi pe covorul albastru in cafeneaua in care nu a mai ramas nimeni, si bei in continuare ceva din cana cea rosie. Si cazi. De unde? Spre ce?

Delirezi?

In Sephora a few weeks ago, a sales associate used Anastasia Brow Duality ($23) under my arches. Never in my life would I think of using a pencil on my browbone; for me, pearly shadows give a much softer effect while highlighting and defining brows. I’d always thought of brow enhancing pencils as harsh, giving brows and eyes that “overdone” look.

Not this one.

The dual-ended pencil has a matte tip for daytime brow highlighting (which is more subtle), and a shimmery tip for night-out looks. It not only helped to define my brows, but it brought light to my entire eye area by highlighting the browbone. It gave my eye makeup a finishing touch, and almost seemed to “lift” my entire eye area. All this from a double-tipped pencil!

More details after the jump.

When I tried the matte end of my pencil (I have the Camille/Sand pencil) on the back of my hand, I was skeptical. I was already enamored with the shimmery tip, and I figured I’d never use the matte tip because it looked too pink, too chalky. I gave it a shot anyway before work one morning, and was amazed at how subtle the color went on, and yet how much of a difference it made.

With this pencil, it only takes 10 seconds to transform your eye area. Depending on the look you’re going for (matte or shimmery), trace the pencil under your arch, starting at the inner corner and working your way out, to just past the outer tip/end of your brow. It goes on easy, so it shouldn’t be too harsh, but if you prefer a more muted look, just blend lightly with your fingertips. I think you’ll be surprised at the difference: brows look more defined and groomed, and eyes are subtly illuminated.

Available in 2 shades to suit your skintone: Camille/Sand (neutral champagne-infused pinks for cool tones) and Shell/Lace (beigey bone and bronze for warm tones).

O vice-governador Antonio Anastasia presidiu, nesta segunda-feira (26/10), em Santos Dumont, na Zona da Mata, a cerimônia de entrega da Medalha Santos Dumont. A solenidade aconteceu na Fazenda Cabangu, onde nasceu o aviador, e teve como orador oficial o embaixador Affonso Arinos de Melo Franco Filho, membro da Academia Brasileira de Letras. Durante a cerimônia, foram agraciadas 165 personalidades que se destacaram no desenvolvimento da aviação e do Brasil. Em seu pronunciamento, o vice-governador destacou que Santos Dumont tem sido ao longo dos últimos anos grande exemplo para os mineiros e brasileiros.

“Não há dúvida alguma de que Alberto Santos Dumont, o mineiro que deu asas aos seres humanos, é o ícone maior da vocação mineira para a pesquisa, o desenvolvimento e a utilização do saber em benefício da humanidade. Santos Dumont não simboliza essa tradição apenas pelo fato de ter sido o primeiro a voar em um aparelho mais pesado que o ar, mas sobretudo pelo espírito com que orientou todos os seus trabalhos e invenções”, afirmou Anastasia.

O vice-governador também homenageou outros mineiros que, a exemplo de Santos Dumont, inovaram em seus ofícios trazendo benefícios importantes para a humanidade.

“Santos Dumont não foi o único mineiro, em seu tempo, a se dedicar integralmente ao objetivo de promover o bem-estar das pessoas e da humanidade inteira. Nas primeiras décadas do século XX, dois cientistas e pesquisadores nascidos em Minas Gerais – Carlos Chagas e Vital Brasil – também conquistariam o respeito, a admiração e o reconhecimento do mundo, por suas descobertas no campo da ciência médica”, disse.

JK

Ainda em seu pronunciamento, Anastasia lembrou da ousadia de outro mineiro, o presidente Juscelino Kubitscheck, que marcou a administração pública e a política brasileira.

“É preciso que as novas gerações conheçam e compreendam a evolução administrativa, econômica, social e política que o Brasil viveu, no tempo de JK, para que tenham a firme convicção de que podemos ser muito maiores e melhores do que somos hoje”, afirmou.

O vice-governador destacou que, inspirado por JK, o Governo de Minas implantou nos últimos anos um modelo de gestão pública eficiente e com resultados já concretos.

 “Estamos antecipando um futuro no qual o Estado se tornará, efetivamente, servidor da sociedade e não mais uma entidade onisciente, onipotente e onipresente na vida dos cidadãos, das organizações sociais e da iniciativa privada, como vem sendo há décadas, no Brasil”, disse.

Modelo de gestão

O orador da cerimônia Affonso Arinos Filho também destacou o modelo de gestão implantado pelo Governo de Minas nos últimos anos, a exemplo do que defendeu outro mineiro de destaque na história brasileira – o presidente Tancredo Neves.

“Podemos visualizar o realismo, a prudência e a Justiça preconizados por Tancredo Neves através do Choque de Gestão que empreende atualmente o Governo mineiro, onde os programas da educação, saúde e cultura visam os homens e mulheres deste Estado a fim de torná-los cidadãos sempre mais instruídos, qualificados e saudáveis”, destacou.

 Condecoração

A Medalha Santos Dumont, concedida pelo Governo de Minas, foi criada pela Lei 1.493, de 16 de outubro de 1956, para comemorar a realização do primeiro voo com uma aeronave mais pesada do que o ar, em 23 de outubro de 1906, pelo brasileiro Alberto Santos Dumont.

O orador oficial da cerimônia, embaixador Affonso Arinos de Melo Franco Filho, relembrou a criação da comenda e importância do exemplo de Santos Dumont.

 “Foi o governador Bias Fortes que criou essa medalha em homenagem e honra de um dos grandes mineiros que o Brasil pode oferecer ao mundo, que é Alberto dos Santos Dumont. E podemos pensar que Minas tem hoje todas as condições de continuar oferecendo homens dessa grandeza, dessa qualidade, desse espírito público ao nosso país e ao mundo”, disse Affonso Arinos.

A medalha Santos Dumont é concedida em três graus: ouro, prata e bronze. Neste ano, foram agraciadas 165 personalidades. Entre elas, o atleta paraolímpico Felipe Marinho de Oliveira.

“É muito importante para mim saber que o governo está reconhecendo o trabalho; saber que a gente está nadando, treinando para ganhar as medalhas. E essa medalha é o reconhecimento do governo pelo nosso trabalho”, disse o nadador mineiro.

No início da cerimônia, o vice-governador, acompanhado do comandante da 4ª Região Militar, José Mário Faccioli, assistiu a uma apresentação da Guarda de Honra. Na sequência, eles foram recebidos pelo prefeito de Santos Dumont, Evandro Neri, pelo presidente da Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais, Alberto Pinto Coelho, pelo presidente do Tribunal de Justiça de Minas Gerais, desembargador Sérgio de Resende e pelo procurador-geral de Justiça de Minas Gerais, Alceu Marques.

Juntos, autoridades e agraciados, assistiram à entrega das medalhas e os pronunciamentos. No encerramento, foi realizado um desfile dos alunos da Escola de Cadetes do Ar, situada em Barbacena, e que em 2009 comemora 60 anos.

On Saturday, I attended Nordstrom’s Art of Beauty Trend Show at a mall outside of Philadelphia. Tickets were $15, and all ticket costs could be applied toward cosmetics purchases the day of the show. I was told by a Smashbox brand rep upon purchasing my ticket that this would be more of a fashion show, where “fall’s hottest looks” would be paired with accompanying ensembles highlighting fall’s fashion trends. (I was also firmly instructed to arrive at 7:30am, half an hour before doors opened, to snag a front-row seat.) What the event turned out to be was a 2.5-hour live infomercial.

I had fully intended to get up early on Saturday and be there promptly at 7am to break down the doors and claim my front-row seat. However, I had not intended to have too much wine on Friday night, which hindered my ability to get out of bed. In desperate need of coffee, I had to make a pit stop at my local java joint. All in all, I didn’t get there until 8:30am, about 1/2 hour into the show. So long, front-row seat.

Read on for the full lowdown.

Julianne de’Chaump, beauty director for Nordstrom’s corporate offices, emceed the show. She was incredibly loud and talked too close to the mic, and my ears were begging for mercy at such an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning; seriously, 8am is too early for screaming! (Side note: can I get this chick’s job? She travels around the country talking about MAKEUP and has a professional artist and

 hairstylist who travel with her and make her up before every appearance. I definitely picked the wrong profession.)

The event was divided into three “acts,” with each act preceded by a mini-fashion show; 3 models strutted their stuff in fall fashions fully made up in the hottest fall beauty looks. That was it for the fashion element. I found myself squirming in my seat waiting for the “intermissions” so I could check out the clothes. Also, I fell in love with a couple of items; but nowhere was it noted what they were! How can we be expected to purchase any awesome fall sweaters/leggings/sequined minidresses/berets if we don’t know who designs them? Nobody was on hand to answer questions post-show, either; Nordstrom staff immediately began dismantling the set, stacking chairs as soon as the house lights came on.

Anyway, back to the beauty: The “stage” was set up like a runway, with rows of chairs lining the catwalk. Julianne, the emcee, moseyed around the catwalk from start to finish, introducing brand reps and giving her input on certain products.

Brand reps were present from: MAC, Bobbi Brown, Anastasia, Smashbox, Chanel, NV Perricone, Philosophy, Clinique, Bare Escentuals, Dior, Nordstrom’s BP (juniors) department (promoting Twilight-themed makeup), Clarisonic, Phyto, Estee Lauder, and Trish McEvoy. Fragrances repped were D&G and Narciso Rodriguez. Each rep came out to talk for approximately 3 minutes about the brand’s newest products and how they will change your life. They were accompanied by a model carrying a selection of products, which were given away to lucky audience members.

I did learn some things. For example:

• Jennifer Aniston’s amazing sleek hair is because of Phytolisse smoothing serum (by Phyto).
• Oprah will be airing her Favorite Things holiday spectacular this year, and Philosophy’s holiday “cookbook” (bodywash/shampoo/bubble bath in fresh-baked scents) is on the list as her fave hostess gift.
• Clinique’s Even Better (which is so great for remedying any type of skin discoloration) is now in an SPF20 moisturizer ($42.50) that evens out skintone and fades discoloration.
• At Anastasia in-store brow salons in Nordstroms nationwide, estheticians trained by Anastasia Soare herself (aka Hollywood’s brow queen) will expertly shape (wax and tweeze), groom and define your brows for $30. Appointments can be booked at participating Nordstroms by calling their main number and asking for the Anastasia salon. Global Education Director for Anastasia was also at the trend show, accepting clients on the spot and shaping brows herself, which was pretty cool.

After the show, multiple artists from each brand sold at this particular Nordstrom were on hand to make over thousands of people. Appointments were booked well in advance, and for the duration I was there, nearly every chair was filled.

The best part of the day was getting made over by a MAC artist, and scoring some pro tips from Romero Jennings, MAC artist extraordinaire! Look for a post on his insider tips later this week.

So here’s the bottom line: If you want to expand your knowledge about makeup, are searching for a totally new look, or just want to get your makeup professionally done gratis, a beauty trend show would be a great opportunity for you to catch up on what’s new and get an inside glimpse of the latest products, from people who know them intimately.

Also, if you’re historically a lucky lady, it may be worth your while to show up because they give away free stuff faster than you can spritz perfume. Each seat has a program and raffle ticket on it, and Nordstrom staff are on hand to collect your completed raffle tickets. Winners got everything from an eyeshadow pallette to a full line of new Chanel skincare products (worth hundreds!). Also, random people from the audience were picked for really great prizes, like baskets brimming with an entire brand’s full-size products, full-size bottles of fragrance, and a free brow shaping at the Anastasia salon.

Hey everyone! Okay yeah I know, I’ve been an awful blogger lately, tsk tsk on me. Weekend in Dallas was absolutely amazing! And will go down as one of my all time favorites for sure. My weekend was full of music, haunted houses, new friends, old friends, great conversation, great shopping, and finding things I didn’t really know existed. Yes it’s a little vague, but that’s as detailed as you’re going to get . Suffice it to say, I’m very happy right now.

Didn’t take a ton of pictures, but I did get some great shots on Saturday when I spent the afternoon with two of my favorite ladies; Marisa (duh) and Anastasia. You might recgonize Anastasia from the Fashionably Late magazine post I did a little bit ago. She was in both of the shoots. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera for everything else that weekend but I guess I’ll just have to settle for memory-pictures . Enjoy! I hope your weekend was every bit as great!
-Andrew J.

Anastasia and I decided to take in some sun at the Northpark courtyard after doing a little damage at Urban Outfitter



Great harp music in the background!


The new Louis Vuitton store looks really pretty!

Marisa looking all cute. Sorry the lights above were a little yellowing…


Red Mango!

This was too cool! A Barney’s New York display where the grass was spaghetti!


Anastasia was headed off to the Dallas Block Party dressed as Samantha Jones lol.

Killah Ecco tutte le foto della vincitrice del Killah New Face 2010! Si chiama Anastasia Pavlova, ha 16 anni ed è di Roma.
Complimenti!

First, congratulations to reader Photoqulity for a successful showing of her work Fuzzhead by DP at the Newport News Fall Festival of Folklife.  Her bibs rock!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

True fact: I can recite the original text of Where the Wild Things Are.  From memory.  (And yet I regularly forget my PIN number.  Go figure.)  

Parlor tricks aside, it sounds like Spike Jonze has managed to turn Maurice Sendak’s beloved classic into an appealing children’s movie.  Best of all?  He got to name the monsters! Fritinancy linked to an interview with Jonze and Sendak about christening the five Carol (male), Alexander, Ira, Judith and Douglas.   But we all know that the name to get the biggest boost from this flick is probably the already popular Max – he of the wolf-suit, who could soar in the 2010 rankings.

Speaking of heights, unless you were under a rock, surely you caught the not-flight of Falcon, the boy who ran up a bill with NORAD in a balloon built by his daredevil Dad.   (Except not.  It turned out Falcon was on terra firma the whole time.)  No, you’re not imagining it, either – Daphne du Maurier penned an all-but-forgotten novel titled The Flight of the Falcon back in 1965 – but her main characters were Aldo and Armino.  Falcon has brothers named Bradford and Ryo, and the whole family recently featured on an episode of Wife Swap.

While we’re talking television:

• On FOX’s high school musical Glee, quarterback Finn suggested a baby name to cheerleader Quinn: Drizzle.  Quinn was not impressed;
• On the baby shower episode of 18 Kids and Counting, grandma-elect Michelle fixed Mackynzie’s name on the sheet cake after the bakery biffed the spelling.  The first, I’ll bet of many such incidents.

In real life, non-reality-TV baby  names:

• Bewildertrix wrote about the Boo phenom.  I have yet to spot it in the US, but apparently there’s an epidemic of girls with names like Daisy Boo elsewhere in the English speaking world.  And she spotted a Kherington – as in Fame!  Of course, hers was a middle name – Brooke Kherington;
• In News from the North, parentcentral.ca reports on a new baby named Briese Lively.  The first name is a friend’s surname, pronounced Breeze.  I can’t help think that Briese would’ve benefitted from a more restrained pick in the middle spot;
• From Canada to Russia, with love … Nancy posted about the most popular names in Vladivostok, Russia, where the As have it – Anastasia, Alexandra, Anna, Alexander and Artem share the top spots, along with Vladislav  - can you imagine being Vladislav from Vladivostok;
• Speaking of global names, Laura Wattenberg posted on the Global Hit Name You Haven’t Noticed - Matthew.  And Matteo, Matthias, Mate, Mathieu …

A few other notes:

• Actress Nia Long’s son (he’s eight) is called Massai Zhivago.  Call me crazy, but I love it;
• Real World alum Rachel Campos-Duffy (back from Season Three, San Francisco, when we were all watching) grew up and became an occasional guest host of The View, the political conservative they call on when their regular reality-star-alum/political conservative isn’t available.  I might not agree with her, but I like the names she and husband Sean picked – and they’ve had a lot of practice.  Baby #6 is on the way – the first five are Eva Pilar, Xavier Jack, Lucia-Belen, John-Paul and Paloma Pilar;
• Now that’s how to name twins! Arrested Development actor Jeffrey Tambor and wife Kasia have welcomed Hugo Bernard and Eli Nicholas, little brothers for Eve Julia and Gabriel Kasper.  Then again, dad has plenty of experience.  He’s 65;
• SNL’s Bill Hader and wife welcomed daughter Hannah Kathryn.

But the big starbaby news of the week is the arrival of Lou Sulola.  Check out Nameberry’s Pamela Redmond Satran’s slideshow up at The Daily Beast, listing the many celeb babies given names that range from gender-neutral to gender-bending.

And lastly, I’m headed to New Orleans for a friend’s wedding this weekend.  The Names of the Day posts will continue as planned, but if I do post a Sunday Summary, it will be brief!